Halfway there

Believe it or not I'm now halfway through my 24 week training plan for Chicago. The Great Lakes Relay I ran this last weekend was a nice mental break. Physically it was one of the hardest three-day stretches that I'll have in all of my training. Of the 46 miles I ran in those three days over 26 were at faster than tempo pace. I actually feel pretty good - which is nice because I'm supposed to run 114 miles this week.

The relay has become my favorite race of the year. The mix of competition, old friends, and beautiful scenery is the perfect cure to the feeling of staleness that I might feel at this point in my training for a marathon. As I said last week, the next eight weeks will be the hardest training of my life - time to push things to the next gear.

Last Week
Monday: 11.5 miles
Tuesday: 10.5 miles
Wednesday: 13 miles
Thursday: 7 miles
Friday: GLR 16 miles
Saturday: GLR 17 miles
Sunday: GLR 12.5 miles
Total: 88.5 miles

Next Week
Monday morning: 8.5 miles
Monday evening: 8.5 miles
Tuesday morning: 10 miles
Tuesday evening: 6 miles
Wednesday: 12 miles
Thursday morning: 14 miles 4X2 mi @ T pace 2 min rest
Thursday evening: 6 miles
Friday: 14 miles
Saturday: 13 miles
Sunday: 22 miles
Total: 114 miles